Chapter 49 Return Journey

"No, no, no, Carter, we've just met. It's embarrassing enough to ask for your advice, how can I borrow money from you again!"

Paul waved his hands repeatedly at Carter's suggestion. However, Gates, on the other hand, looked thoughtful at Carter's proposition.

There's no such thing as unconditional love or hate in this world. His acquaintance with Paul originated from their common love for computers. Over the years, their friendship had deepened, and whatever they did for each other seemed reasonable. But for Carter, someone they had just met, to offer them money so readily...

That was abnormal!

Although Paul's family was decent, his father was an assistant librarian at Washington State University. While it couldn't provide Paul with a lavish lifestyle, it ensured he had no worries about food and clothing, and provided a good environment for him to acquire knowledge. But compared to Gates, who came from a wealthy family, Paul seemed much simpler.

At least Gates thought, if it were him, he would definitely not rush to refuse. He would carefully consider Carter's intentions first. But now that Paul had spoken, Gates couldn't directly contradict his best friend.

"It's okay, I would charge interest if I lent money. I just see potential in your future, so I'm willing to help you out and make a little profit on the side. As a banker, lending money is just second nature to me!"

After discreetly revealing a bit of his own strength and stating his position, Carter didn't push further. Whether it was borrowing money or investing, rushing into it would never yield the maximum benefit.

There's plenty of time in the future. Carter remembered that Microsoft's rise seemed to have begun with IBM's orders. It was still early for Microsoft to take off. They didn't even have their own operating system yet.

"You have a bank too? Carter, how many assets are you hiding? You're really something. I can't imagine what you'll be like in ten years."

After discussing business, it was mostly idle chatter. That night, the group had dinner together as a token of appreciation for Carter's advice.

During the meal, Carter met the third person from Microsoft, Kay Nishi. Since Microsoft was currently facing financial constraints, rather than choosing to dine out, they had Alan cook a hearty dinner for Carter right there at the company. After exchanging contact information, Carter bid them farewell and left.

"Carter! Why are you just coming back now? We agreed to go out for a while!"

Upon returning to the hotel, Carter saw Melissa sitting sulking on the sofa in his room, staring at him with an unfriendly expression.

"Los Angeles, the dress!"

Carter understood and raised a finger. Today's trip was undoubtedly the most valuable part of the whole journey! Although he didn't invest in Microsoft, he had established a relationship with the two founders, which meant there would be opportunities in the future.

Indeed, fortune favors the bold. Not meeting Walker but encountering Gates was undoubtedly a stroke of luck! As for that nonsense about "Washington's bad luck," it was impossible! Absolutely impossible!

"Hehehe, that's okay! Are we still going to play in Seattle? When are we going to Los Angeles?"

Melissa, the remedy for all ills, grinned and leaned towards Carter, shaking his arm. She had been asking almost every day since arriving on the West Coast when they were going to Los Angeles.

Now, Carter could give a definite answer:

"Tomorrow! We're leaving tomorrow, stop shaking me!"

Now that he had found the future giant that was Microsoft, Carter was no longer obsessed with finding more golden eggs. If he couldn't invest in the golden eggs he found now, finding more would only be a source of frustration.

Furthermore, after more than a month on the road, Carter was starting to miss Douglas, that small town. It didn't matter if he came from a humble background; traveling around the country was exhausting. The slow-paced life in the small town was undoubtedly the best way to relieve fatigue!

Carter wanted to go home, while Melissa wanted to go to Los Angeles to chase stars. Once again, the siblings' goals were achieved in this strange way. Early the next morning, without Carter having to call her, Melissa had already packed and was waiting outside his door. They checked out, had breakfast, and set off!

The West Coast of the United States was not as complicated as the old East Coast. Going south from Washington, they entered the famous state of California after passing through Oregon. California, one of the few states with two major cities, experienced rapid economic growth during World War II. Unfortunately, now that Carter was eager to return, they only made a brief visit to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf before their trip was considered complete. It's worth mentioning that the size of the Chinatown in San Francisco was generally larger than those on the East Coast.

Among them, San Francisco's Chinatown was the largest. Carter didn't know the specific reasons, he was just happy to find a wide variety of Chinese cuisine here. In San Francisco, not only were there authentic Chinese cuisines, but he could also find snacks like lamb soup and steamed buns. This made Carter extremely happy. Next, before heading to Los Angeles, Carter made a detour to Silicon Valley.

Although the concept of Silicon Valley had already existed in 1979, it wasn't widely known until 1971 when it was mentioned in Business Week. However, due to its lack of popularity, Silicon Valley was often misunderstood as a place concentrated on silicone, sounding like some kind of adult industry hub.

In Santa Clara County, where Silicon Valley is located, Carter discovered quite a few companies that would become familiar names in the future. The most famous one was Apple! Compared to Microsoft's struggling duo, the current head of Apple, Jobs, was riding high. Despite being founded later than Microsoft, Apple's development was much better. Their personal computer product, the Apple II, was selling like hotcakes!

Apart from Apple, there was also the renowned computer processor manufacturer, Intel. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo were nowhere to be seen, but Carter was already quite satisfied. He even made a special visit to the Intel company. Unfortunately, the processors available now were not the familiar Core series to him, not even Pentium. The latest product was a chip named 8086, which had just been launched last year.

After jotting down this information in his notebook, Carter left and headed straight for Los Angeles. And in Los Angeles, the one most excited was naturally Melissa. Upon entering Los Angeles, it was the only time during the journey that they didn't first go to the hotel to drop off their luggage, but went straight to their destination.

Parking the car by the roadside, Carter accompanied Melissa as she walked along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Watching Melissa bouncing around in front of each name, Carter felt only boredom, even annoyance. He didn't even know many of the Hollywood stars from the future, let alone now?

After three noisy days, watching a few old movies, which could be considered ticking off the Hollywood box, the siblings finally set off on their journey back home.